ideas needed (cooling problem)

[dr.walrus]

What kind of fans are you using? They may not be powerful enough? Have you thought about after market coolers?

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...me=VGA-Cooling

Aside from that, there is water cooling, but it seems like you don't want to go that route. Not that I blame you, that can get pretty expensive pretty fast. lol

You could always buy a new case too. I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make for most cases though. But say you bought something like the Antec Twelve Hundred, I'm pretty sure that would make a difference, but its pricey.

What about modding? Have you thought about adding more fans wherever you can? You could add fan(s) onto the side panel positioned over the graphics cards, or you could add a fan to the top of the case which would be smart since heat rises, so that would provide an outlet for that.

The issue is caused by the graphics cards being in concurrent slots, there's only about 5mm of clearance inbetween them which there aren't any aftermarket (air) coolers that would fit. No space in the top for a fan, plus the airflow would be in the wrong direction.

Could build a custom extraction unit for the back, but total cost of all this work is like the cost of a second hand antec 900

[dr.walrus]

Ah, see, this is the problem. The two top GPUs pump towards the FRONT of the case...

[dr.walrus]

you want more blowing in than out. positive air pressure is better than negative.

yes, unless you have nowhere for it to leave from. 1 x 80mm out and 2 x 80mm + 1 x 220mm in? More than 50% is gonna go through the PSU

[Luke122]

Ah, see, this is the problem. The two top GPUs pump towards the FRONT of the case...

Which way does the bottom one go?

Is there anything between the gpus and the front fans? If not, duct it the same way, but reverse the bottom front fan to push out.

[dr.walrus]

Which way does the bottom one go?

Is there anything between the gpus and the front fans? If not, duct it the same way, but reverse the bottom front fan to push out.

The bottom one pumps from bottom out the back of the case. It runs at about 55-60 degrees C on average.

There's two hard drives (soon going to become three, and one is a seagate velociraptor) so that's pretty much what the front ones are for.

And I'm not going to risk circular ducting. That's asking for trouble.

[Luke122]

Plus if the hdd's are there, then you are just going to cook them with heat from the gpus. Damn.

New case might be your best option then.

Do you need the power of those cards, or just the outputs to drive more monitors?

[dr.walrus]

Plus if the hdd's are there, then you are just going to cook them with heat from the gpus. Damn.

New case might be your best option then.

Do you need the power of those cards, or just the outputs to drive more monitors?

For this:

Will post a thread about it soon. Two more monitors being added, currently a 22", 24" and 4 x custom 10" CRTs

[Luke122]

If you are just using the extra outputs for status screens, web browsing, and dont need acceleration, then USB video outputs might be an option. Then you can eliminate 2 of your gpu cards, and not only cut down on heat, but also power demands.

[dr.walrus]

lol yes but I'm on a student loan here. Cost me £40 for the GPUs to output to the four status screens, this thing is on a seriously tiny budget, so it's out of the question to replace them and pay £40 for EACH USB>VGA adapter.

If I had the money to throw at it I'd have ten LCDs and a liquid cooled case... Hence why I'd prefer to upgrade this thing, not buy a new one.

There's an Antec 900 for cheap on Ebay ending day after tomorrow, if the hammer falls for under £40 I'm having it (already have the third GPU on the way), else it's a 220mm fan in the side and take all the drive bay covers off the back to allow the hot air out!

[dr.walrus]

****, how about this:

reverse the CPU fan to point back to front. Reverse the rear fan pulling air in. Leave the front fans as they are. Put on a 200mm side fan pulling air out. Only problem there is the power supply.

Or:

just put on the massive side fan. Use ducting to outside window (seriously, i mean it).